Cantillon Saint Lamvinus

Brewed by Cantillon
Style: Lambic - Fruit
Brussels, Belgium

Serve in Flute, Tumbler

Sample at Central Waters anniversary party. Purple-red pour. Tart citrus, mild funk, and red wine fruitiness. Smooth tart citrus, sweet red grapes and wine, and light woodsy finish. Lightly dry with nice, even carbonation.

nice light pink head, lasting, cloudy amber/rose colour. Heavy nose with wine, dry sulphur, kirsch and balsamico. Powerfull and fruity yet very elegant. Medium body and good length. Taste is dry with some fruityness, kirsch, raspberries, red vinegar. Very fine. I really like this type of beer.

nuts, floral, red, cloudy, brown foam, heavy cloying, medium bitterness, heavily sour, full body, thick feel, long finish,

2008 bottling, pours a reddish brown, almost copper with no head, just a light fizz on top. The nose is pure funk. There is a reaso that Cantillon suggests you drink the fruit lambics within three years and that is to maximize on the fruit. However, I love the funk so I am fine with letting the fruit go. The nose has cheese, dirt and leather. The flavor runs you through the gambit, starts sweet and maintains a degree of sweetness throughout, while saltiness and bitter hit you in the middle followed by a grandios sour exit that leaves you puckers for a bit. I love this style. Mouthfeel is very light, super fizzy for a beer that didn’t have much head. I love this beer the older it gets. Glad I could finally rate it.

75 cL bottle from Beers of Europe, poured into an Affligem glass. Light red wine colour, with a short burst of fizz and then the head calmed down. Deep red fruit aroma, but also vinegar acidity. Drinkable, but not particularly exciting. Still, its decent.

750 ml from Brewery Creek. What a rich lipstick color, like homemade raspberry jam. Small pink beige head. This color is seductive. The aroma is pungently poopy, and at first several sips the diaper is overwhelming other nice stuff. Penetrating beneath the poop, I first find cheese rinds. So it doesn’t look good so far. I have to patiently search for the nice lambic character, the dried cranberry and the nutty malts. The resin, and retsina. As it sits, the dark wine-infested infected old wood character emerges more. It’s certainly compelling enough to drink a lot of. The palate is nice, and it’s all up hill from there. Soft and gentle with a high degree of acidity. Lively carbonation but soft on the mouth. The finish is for me good, lots of straightforward dryness and acidity. It’s a very astringent beer. Very little fruit character but does have a nice lingering pure cereal aftertaste. Lots of resin and turpentine in the finish too. Although I was expecting more (it’s amazing how a 4.1 is a low score for a Cantillion), this is still highly drinkable, offering an opportunity to contemplate the assault on the senses, and hitting the lambic g-spot.

Bottle. Dark red color with a reddish colored head on it. Smell is fruity, tart, and full of red wine notes. Taste is sour but not too sour, with a lot of red wine flavors and tannins in it. Taste like a glass of wine with carbonation. Very smooth, very good, and very expensive. As an occasional thing, this beer was fantastic.

750mL bottle, split 4 ways, pours an opaque purplish dark red with virtually no head. Aroma is intense sourness, loads of funk, dry unsweetened rotting grapes and yeast. Flavour is very puckering in sourness, with loads of very tart, dry red grapes, lots of barnyard funk, no sweetness, and red wine qualities. Very complex, dry, intensely sour and drinkable. Delicious